Morning Rain
by IchigoBLEACHcake
Summary: A rogue from the soul society has escaped, and now it's up to the shinigami representative, and the others to sniff him out. But can Ichigo manage to keep his sanity when he figures out just what this attackers true power is? IchiRuki
1. It Began on A Sunday

Rain splashed softly and continuously against the only window connecting the small room to the outside world.

It was early enough in the morning so that light hadn't even started to creep across the horizon yet.

Rukia stared out through a slight crack she had made with the closet door, just small enough to see a tiny portion of the room. Her back was propped against the smooth wooden wall of that dark enclosure that she had become so familiar with. She had been sitting like this for hours.

Her eyes had only shifted places a few times during that long stretch. It was mostly one thing in particular that she was watching…or, one _person_, rather.

It had become a habit lately; Rukia would go to bed especially late, and wake up very early in the morning also, a somewhat new routine, but slightly worrisome, none the less.

She sighed lightly, shifting her weight only in the slightest, more out of habit than to get comfortable. She feared she would become frozen like that if she didn't move at least a little every several minutes.

Rukia blinked a few times, and resumed watching diligently and carefully.

Naturally, Ichigo was still out like a light, slightly sprawled on his long, twin bed, his sheets thoroughly tangled and crumpled around his legs while his arms were completely bare.

The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest remained at it's slow, even pace, and his deep breathing was the only other sound that could be heard other than the steady hum of rain outside the walls.

His mouth hung open slightly, and for what was probably the only time of the day he ever allowed it to be, Ichigo's face was not contorted in a frown, but rather just relaxed and devoid of expression.

Rukia could always tell what kind of dream he was having every night, whether it be one of those strange concoctions his imagination would throw together, or, on a bad night, one of his nightmares.

It was those nights that Rukia almost felt...afraid.

It would usually happen about an hour or so after he was asleep. First, his peaceful expression would darken and he would tighten his jaw.

The next step was his whole body would stiffen, and his muscles would clench, as if he were in pain. Sometimes, he would even visibly tremble from the stress.

But the last and most frightening and heartbreaking thing Ichigo would do is mutter some traces of his dream aloud.

He would almost always start uttering words of apology with a soft, but strained voice. And for whatever disaster that was being created in his mind, whatever apocalyptic scenario, he was always taking the blame for it. He was always shouldering the whole burden

...like he would do in reality.

One particular night, just two weeks before, the nightmare had such a grip on him, that Rukia was even moved from her spot in the closet.

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She had stepped down as quietly as she could and carefully made her way to the edge of his bed, where she set down so gently you would have thought she was sitting on glass as thin as paper.

Ichigo was panting and almost to the point of rambling out apologies to no end. He was in a cold sweat, and every fiber in his body was clenched to the point where he was shaking all over.

Rukia brought her hand up and placed it gingerly on his forehead. So entangled in his dream, Ichigo didn't so much as flinch when her skin met his. He felt feverish under her palm, and his cheeks were flushed.

She almost wanted to cry, seeing him in so much pain, even when he was sleeping.

In one soft, fluid motion, Rukia swept his bright orange hair from his face, and wiped the sweat from his brow.

At that moment, his desperate words started to slow and he stopped turning from side to side.

_That helped..._

Without much thought, Rukia automatically reached for his hand, which was balled into a fist at his side. She lifted it up, and started to pull back gently, but firmly on his fingers, to loosen up his death grip.

He had so much pressure on the inside on his hand, that there were small red marks where his fingernails had just started to break the skin on the top of his palm.

She placed his hand on her lap and laced her slender fingers with his. With her other free hand, she lifted it up and rested that on the top of his muscular chest. She could feel his heart pounding rapidly against his ribs. It felt like a butterfly was caged in his chest and couldn't find its way out.

But suddenly, as if someone had just injected him with sedatives, everything began to slow down.

His eyes, which had been darting back and forth beneath their lids, had now ceased their movement. His breathing became more steady, as well as his heart rate.

Finally, all of his muscles started to slack.

Rukia felt the fingers wrapped around her hand unclench. Ichigo actually seemed to sink

back into the bed, as some wave of relaxation splashed over him.

His face was back to that peaceful expression he usually had during his sleep.

Soft silence followed behind.

It seemed that Ichigo was finally released from his inner horror.

Rukia let out a breath of relief without realizing it. She was glad for being able to comfort him, even if it was only while he slept.

It's not like he would let anyone do that while he was conscious anyway.

_Stubborn idiot..._

A slight smile crept across Rukia's lips.

She remained sitting next to him, her hand laced with his on her lap for several more minutes as she just watched him, up close for once.

He just seemed so much older now. Completely different from the skinny, bright haired boy she had found on _that_ night. Like just within these few short months that she had known him, he had completely grown up.

His body was defiantly starting to show signs of his transformation, but not all of it necessarily for the better.

He had gotten a deal more muscular, mostly from him having to run around all the time.

But what stood out even more to Rukia, were the scars on his body. He seemed to be collecting more and more every day, and that was only on his human body, which he usually always jumped to fight.

She couldn't imagine what his spirit form would look like if the scars remained like they did on this body. It was all part of being a Soul Reaper, that's what she told herself...but sometimes, Rukia couldn't help but wonder if Ichigo would be better off not even knowing about Soul Reapers, or the Soul Society. It had all been sort of forced on him _that_ night; the night she met him.

He would probably just be leading a normal teenage life right now. He wouldn't be getting torn up all the time.

Would he really be happier that way?

Rukia's trance like gaze was broken when Ichigo suddenly started to stretch, mumble something completely nonsensical, and then rolled over, pulling his hand away from hers.

His sudden movements had almost startled her. He had just barely missed her with his right foot when he rolled over.

Rukia quickly collected herself, and started back to the closet. She didn't want him to wake up with her sitting there. Rukia thought of all the likely responses she would get from him if he did find her there.

Certainly it would be something like the ever popular 'What the hell are you doing?'

She lifted herself back up into the dark space and onto white mattresses.

She glanced back to his bed one more time before she slid the door shut completely, and lay back into her usual position.

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Rukia sighed heavily once more.

She hadn't gotten so close to him again since that night. Why should she anyway? She didn't have a reason to. That's what logic was telling her. But every time she thought about getting that close to him again, she would suddenly feel a tightness in her chest, like a nervousness...anxiety...

Why?

Was she worried about something?

Ichigo was fine, he wasn't in danger or anything...

So why?

_Why?_

That one word was beginning to annoy her. Every time it flashed across her mind now, she couldn't grasp the answers. It was frustrating.

She shook her head lightly, trying to shake that irritating question from her brain.

Ichigo rolled over in his bed again, becoming further tangled with his sheets if it were ever possible.

Rukia smiled at his goofy posture, his recklessly sprawled body.

It was almost hard to believe that this young man had saved her from execution. He fought many people in the Soul Society. He had stood up to two captains, _**two**_of the _**strongest**_. And he had done for her...

Suddenly that question came bubbling right back up.

_Why?_

How could she have been worth it? What was so important about her that he almost destroyed his life for again and again? He had said he was just returning a favor.

Rukia laid her hand on the side of the wooden wall.

_Hell of a way to return a favor..._

He even played it off like he didn't even care about her at all, like he was just doing a job that needed to get done.

_What a dumbass..._

He was truly amazing.

Chapter 1

Ichigo yawned, opening his mouth as wide as it would go. He raised his arms high up over his head, stretching his stiff, sleepy muscles. Freeing himself from the blankets bound around his lower half, he swung his legs over the side of his bed. He rubbed his eyes and felt for his alarm clock, bringing it up to his face so he could see the time better.

"Geez, that late already?"

The clock read 11:13 a.m. in crisp black digits. Normally this would be cause for panic and scrambling around for clean clothes, but it was a Sunday morning, thankfully. It was also the beginning of a whole week of vacation. That did mean of course still fighting Hollows and running around without, _hopefully_, getting his head chopped off.

Ichigo stretched again and dragged himself off his bed and over to the closet. He tapped softly on the sliding door, hoping Rukia wouldn't explode on him for not going downstairs to get her breakfast this morning.

Geez, he had to do everything around here...

Ichigo waited for a few seconds, and when he heard no reply, he knocked again, louder this time.

Silence.

"Hey, Rukia. You still sleeping in there?"

Still no answer.

He slid the door open cautiously. Mattresses and sheets, but no Rukia.

She has a habit of disappearing at the weirdest times.

Ichigo sighed and started to pull off his night shirt. He might as well just go have lunch. She would be back eventually.

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"So what's with the serious look?" Rukia folded her arm across her chest, and casually leaned against the side of the building she was standing next to.

"It's bad, Rukia" The red head sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"What's bad?"

Renji's face looked grim.

"The Soul Society is in complete uproar again. Apparently there's a fugitive on the run..."

Rukia straightened up, knitting her brow with concern.

"A fugitive?"

"Yeah, apparently this guy attacked a couple shinigami, including Captain Konmamaru."

Her dark blue eyes went wide.

"He went against a captain?! They're weren't any casualties, were there?"

Renji shook his head, causing his spiky, red ponytail to sway with it.

"No, but the captain is sustaining some minor injuries. According to the report, the man attacked quickly, and then disappeared. No one really has a solid read on what the bastard looks like. All we know is that after attacking, some witnesses reported minutes later that they saw an odd looking shinigami flee to the real world trough the senkai mon."

Rukia bit her bottom lip, mulling the situation over in her head.

Renji shifted his weight over to his right leg and ran his palm over his headband.

"So that's why I was ordered to come here and look for the guy, and inform you and Ichigo of the situation."

"Right." Rukia nodded, still keeping her eyes fixed toward the ground.

"Where is that good-for-nothing representative anyway?"

She looked up at him, arching an eyebrow.

"He's still in bed."

Renji looked highly irritated.

"Still? Man, he's lazy as always." He started to walk out of the alley way.

"Well, it's time for a wake up call; he needs to know about the situation too."

Rukia followed Renji out of the alley and they headed back toward the Kurosaki clinic.

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Ichigo stared out with window with a perplexed look on his face.

"What the hell was that?!"

Just seconds before, Ichigo could've sworn he heard a high pitched screech-like sound not too far from his window. He climbed onto his bed and stuck his head out the window to see what could've caused the disturbance.

"Was it a hollow?" Ichigo mumbled quietly to himself. He put his hands on the window pane to give him more leverage to see out the window better. Still, there was nothing around...

"OW!"

Ichigo's left arm shot right back inside his room, along with the rest of his body as a sudden needle sharp pain appeared on his forearm. Ichigo looked down to inspect what had just happened.

There was a small red dot on his arm, with a tiny bead of blood starting to emerge from his skin.

Was it a bee sting? It looked exactly like one.

"Damn it..." Ichigo growled, rubbing the small wound with his other hand. He looked back toward the window once more, thinking about the sound he heard. He exhaled sharply, annoyed by the small distraction. He continued to stare out the window for a few moments, but still, no source to the sound seemed to present itself.

_It probably that damn bee buzzing in my ear... _Ichigo thought a deep frown spreading across his face.

"Yo!"

Suddenly Renji's body filled Ichigo's window. He jumped back with surprise as his concentration was completely shattered and his privacy utterly ignored again.

"What the- Renji?!" Ichigo, glared at the red head shinigami squatting in his window.

"What the hell are _**you**_doing here?"

Renji jumped down onto Ichigo's messy bed.

"You know...just a plain 'hello' would've worked too."

Ichigo tapped his foot impatiently, clearly displeased with Renji just barging into his room and sitting down on his bed. He stood for a few moments, waiting for an answer, all the while still glowering at Renji.

Of course, Renji was taking his sweet time getting completely comfortable, before he could divulge any bit of information to the fuming, orange-haired teen trying to burn a hole in through his head with his stare.

"It's a new mission for you..." Renji said rather plainly.

Ichigo unfolded his arms, stuffing his hands into his pockets and tilting his head up to the ceiling, blowing air noisily out of his nose.

"No surprise," he groaned to the ceiling lamp.

The door knob turned, and with a soft click, the bedroom door swung open, allowing Rukia into the room.

Ichigo lowered his head, and snapped it over to the direction of the second intrusion.

"Rukia! What the hell are you thinking coming through the door like that? What if my family saw you?!" She looked up at his red face and simply ignored his for the moment, sitting down on the bed first before responding.

"Relax, I'm not completely stupid you know. No one saw me come in. Yuzu went grocery shopping this morning, your Dad is at a meeting, and Karin must still be playing soccer, so no one's even home."

She nonchalantly pushed a lock of raven hair over her shoulder.

"Maybe you would have known all this if you would get up in the morning."

"Tch..." Ichigo scowled and tilted his head away. She always had to be friggin' right.

Renji smirked at the completely and clearly pissed Ichigo standing in front of them, angrily fidgeting with the hem of his pant pocket.

Renji cleared his throat and prepared to give the explanation once again.

"As I said, I'm here to brief you on your mission, so unplug your ears for a sec and listen up."

Despite his anger, Ichigo straightened up. He pushed it aside and listened carefully as Renji began.

"Well, we've got this fugitive on out hands..."

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The door creaked open slowly, as Yuzu nudged it with her shoulder, her arms cradling a pile of plastic bags, filled with different foods and small household items.

"Anyone home?" she asked to the house. She walked to the counter and dropped her armful carefully, waiting for a reply.

"Hm, Ichigo must still be asleep...or he went to Keigo's..." She thought aloud to herself, as she placed a carton of milk into the refrigerator.

She went about putting all the other groceries away, and then dusted her hands off on her pink dress when she was done.

"Still no Ichigo, huh? I'll have to go wake him up, it's nearly one." Yuzu started up the stairs, fixing the red, plastic clip in her short, blonde hair as she ascended.

Ichigo sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead with two fingers.

"Damn...why can't the Soul Society keep anyone in control anymore?"

Renji was horizontal on the bed, his head resting on his propped up hand. He rolled his eyes, and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Well, we can't all be quiet little children like you, Ichigo." Renji coated his words thick with sarcasm.

Rukia observed their laid-back mannerisms and chat with distaste.

"Let's try and take this a little more seriously." She shot nefarious glances at both of them.

Renji seemed to be unaffected by the look, but sat up anyway, to at least show some shred of respect to the situation.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck and cast his gaze toward the ceiling again.

"So I'm guessing I've got no choice but to give full cooperation in this mission, right?" He droned.

"Well, it's your job, dumbass." Renji remarked curtly.

Rukia didn't exactly like how he presented the fact, but she still nodded in silent agreement anyway.

"We'll have to start looking soon." Suddenly her eyes fell upon the small welt on Ichigo's arm. The subject in her mind completely changed for the moment.

"What did you do to you arm?"

Ichigo blinked at her for a moment, surprised by the out-of-the-blue question. He glanced down at the small wound. It had swollen quiet a bit, and had a tint of purple, like a bruise.

"Oh, I think it was a bee sting... I had my window open, so it probably flew in and I whacked it on accident, or something."

"Because we know how gentle you are..." Renji added, once again. Ichigo threw a dark stare at him.

"Geez, you're not allergic to them are you?" Rukia asked, still focused on the 'sting'.

Ichigo raised his eyebrow and stated the answer realistically.

"If I was allergic, don't you think I would have already had a reaction?"

"I was just asking." Rukia crossed her legs deliberately, and snapped her attention away from his arm, to emphasize her anger with him.

"Anyway, we need to-"

Suddenly all three stiffened in their places at the same small, feminine call.

"Ichigo! Are you up yet?" Yuzu was just down the hallway.

"Quick! Into the closet!" Ichigo hissed to Renji and Rukia, who had already launched off the bed in that direction.

Yuzu had her hand on the door knob.

"I'm coming in."

Rukia jerked Renji all the way in and slammed the door shut with the help of Ichigo, who suddenly tried to make himself look busy at his desk just as his sister opened the door. Yuzu looked over at him, and what looked like a pile of pens he had dumped out of a cup and was now very intent on organizing by color.

"What are you doing?"

Ichigo looked over his shoulder and very poorly tried to look surprised to see her standing at the door.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He wagged a dark blue pen between his fingers.

Yuzu put her hands on her hips and cocked her head slightly.

"It looks like you've developed a case of OCD to me." She looked over towards the closet. "What was the door slamming I heard before I came in?"

Ichigo immediately forgot his pens and shot over between her and the closet.

"Oh, I was, uh, you know, fixing the runners on the door! Yeah! They were getting squeaky because they were bent, but I fixed it and it's all better now! Ha ha!" He laughed nervously and patted the door with his palm.

Yuzu blinked at him and stood silent for a second, a little weirded out by his strange reaction to the question.

"Oookay." Yuzu turned and looked toward the door. "Well, I guess I'll be downstairs making lunch. It'll be done in a little while, so I'll call you when it's ready..."

Inside, Renji and Rukia were listening to the conversation, trying to be as quiet as possible, despite the extremely uncomfortable physical positions they were in. They were somewhat tangled with each other, and squished in the extreme left corner of the closet.

"How the heck do you live in here?!" Renji whispered just before receiving a sharp elbow in the ribs from Rukia.

"OW!"

Yuzu turned back to Ichigo, who had the expression of a forty year old man, standing in front of an entire group of peers with no pants on in a dream, because the guy is terrified of his high school reunion on some stupid television program.

"What was that?"

Ichigo started to sweat.

"Uh, uh, I said 'AH!' would you look at the time," he babbled, looking down at an invisible watch on his wrist, "I really gotta get started on my homework!"

He ran over and started to push her to the door. "Now, it's been great but I got a lot to do." He shoved her out into the hall. "Bye!"

"Now just-"

SLAM!

Yuzu jumped as the door was thrown shut in front of her nose.

"Hmph..." she shook her head. There must be something about male hormones that she didn't get.


	2. When It Comes Down to Trust

Chapter 2

"Uuughh..." Ichigo threw himself down on his quilt, tired, annoyed, and frustrated.

He, Rukia, and Renji had split up, and commenced an entire sweep of Karakura town in order to find the rebel. The only thing Ichigo ended up finding was a few small fry hollows and a ticked Rukia when he came back without information.

_Well it's not like she found anything useful either... _Ichigo thought, a deep frown replacing his worn out appearance.

Rukia could be so irritating sometimes. She probably didn't even give a damn about anyone but herself. She was so thoughtless, and inconsiderate, and...

He rolled over and faced his wall.

_And..._

He sighed deeply. He didn't really think all those things about her. She did care deep down.

_It's just so hard to tell sometimes._

A sullen look melted his angry expression.

Dammit. Why was he feeling so depressed suddenly? He really hadn't been himself lately. He was more moody, isolated, and he tended to fly off the handle at the littlest things.

He had been feeling especially strange today.

Ichigo pushed his fingers through his short, fiery hair and rolled back onto his back, resuming his staring contest with the ceiling lamp.

Absolute silence hung over the room like a blanket, smothering him. He would've fallen asleep, if it weren't for that deep, aching pain in his left arm.

_Wait...pain?_

Ichigo blinked. He didn't remember getting hurt today. Sure he got swung at a few times fighting the hollows, but he had changed into a shinigami long before that.

He looked down at his left arm and suddenly remembered the sting earlier in the afternoon. Except now...it didn't really look like a sting anymore...

His forearm was red and what looked like a giant bruise was creeping up his arm. He touched it gently with his right hand and winced.

_Damn...maybe I really am having a reaction._

But he had been stung before and it had never reacted like_**this**_.

He examined it for a few more minutes, until a soft thump alerted his attention to his window.

Rukia gracefully slid in, and landed on his bed with one foot, immediately swinging her other leg down to the floor. She made no move at all to even look at him, she just casually moved to the closet.

Ichigo tried to twist his face into the darkest look he could muster, preparing for when she did eventually look at him.

However, Rukia silently slid the closet door open and climbed inside, closing the door behind her without actually turning around.

Ichigo growled slightly and threw himself back down on his pillow, looking even more miserable.

Of course, what he did expect was her to have yelled at him when she came home, and basically nag his ear off. Normally that would put anyone in a foul mood, but her silence was making him feel even worse.

He started to flick the loose material on his pillow crossly.

Leave it to her to ruin his mood.

His dull brown eyes flickered up to the closet door when he heard it roll open.

Rukia stepped down, finishing the last button on the top of her pajamas (well, Yuzu's actually). She drifted over to the bed, still in silence, her feet softly patting the floorboards as she neared him.

Ichigo made his best effort to deliberately ignore her, as he glowered at the wall.

She set down lightly on the bed, and remained quiet for a few uncomfortable moments.

"Ichigo..."

Her soft voice nearly startled him.

"I'm sorry...if I upset you..." She was looking down at her hands as she spoke. Ichigo remained scowling at the wall, but was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his eyes glued there.

"Tchhh...I'm not _that_ sensitive Rukia..."

She looked over at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"Please. I've been able to feel your depressed reiastu hanging around all day now. So spare me the attitude."

He snorted.

"Since when has my mood been any of your business? It doesn't have to be _you_ that caused it."

"Ichigo..."

_Augh!_

Her delicate voice was killing him. Why couldn't she just leave him alone? Why did she have to be so nosy?

"I'm just trying to help." She said as if she knew what he was thinking.

He couldn't bear not looking at her anymore. Her presence was digging into him.

His chocolate eyes slowly shifted to match up with her deep blue ones.

_Dammit..._

Ichigo's hard glare softened when their gazes locked onto one another.

Now he was stuck.

Rukia looked at him, her eyes luminous with sincerity. She really meant what she said. She wanted to help him.

Ichigo drew in a long breath and let it out painfully slow.

She waited a few minutes for any response from him. Finally, she heard him mumble quietly:

"You didn't upset me, Rukia..."

"Then what is upsetting you?" She pushed for an answer.

Ichigo started to snap back.

"I don't-!" He caught himself before finishing his sentence. Rukia didn't deserve his aimless wrath.

"I don't know..." He finished with a forcibly calm tone.

She still looked at his face, even when he had turned away. Something was obviously bugging him, it didn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out. But the problem was _what_ was bugging him?

She looked down at her lap again.

He might know, and he's was just not up to talking about it. Did he still not trust her enough to share his problems?

No...that was just Ichigo...

_He was always like this..._ she told herself.

She looked back up at him. He looked deep in thought...she could tell. It was that look that he got whenever he was trying to solve a problem. She'd seen it many times before.

He would furrow his brow, and lower his head, his soft brown eyes focusing on one object, but nothing in particular, just the first thing that happened to be in his line of vision.

She watched him think for a little while...watched the solid expression on his handsome face...

Rukia let her eyes wander from his for a moment, as they skimmed down his neck, along his shoulder and across his chest...watching him breathe...

She shook her head rather violently.

_What was that? _

Was she daydreaming? About..._him_?

Ichigo seemed to have noticed her spasm from his side sight, because he glanced over at her and gave a perplexed look.

Rukia just seemed to ignore the look and quickly tried to find something to grab her attention, something she could change the subject with...

Her eyes darted around.

_Something like..._

Rukia's face changed suddenly. Concern flooded her features and she nearly pounced on Ichigo, obviously startling him in the process.

"What happened to your arm?!" She lifted up his left arm carefully but insistently.

"Oh, uh...I think that was from that sting this morning..." He looked over at her, studying his arm.

The bruise had already started to creep across his upper arm

"This was from a sting?! See you are allergic!"

Ichigo wrenched his arm back.

"It's fine."

Rukia didn't look at all convinced.

"Fine? It doesn't look fine to me? It'll all fine and dandy until your arm falls off. You should really have your father look-"

"I said it was fine, Rukia, alright?!" he retorted, his voice harsh.

Ichigo whipped the covers over his head, shrinking down into his mattress.

"Just go to sleep already."

Rukia recoiled at his response. He really was on edge.

Was he really _that _disoriented?

She decided it was best not to push the subject any further with him, it's not like it would do either of them any good.

She got up from her spot on his bed and made her way back to the closet, slightly crestfallen.

She couldn't do a thing to help him this time. He just made it impossible. But, Rukia was really blaming her own inability, not his stubbornness.

She pulled herself back up into her little sanctuary.

"...goodnight..." She murmured to him softly before closing the door.

Ichigo pretended to have not heard her, and kept his head tucked under his quilt, like an ostrich with its head in the sand.

A few soundless minutes crawled by and soon guilt sunk down into the pit of his stomach.

His frustration with himself, and the rest of the world, started building again, until he had to do something to vent it, or he would surely explode.

Ichigo threw his fist down into his pillow, his blanket billowing up with his arm and then slowly floating down like a giant tent when his actions ceased.

He melted down into his bed, blowing air through his lips, completely physically and mentally exhausted.

His troubled thoughts clouded and swirled in his mind, until they slowly dissolved into some form of rest. His rigid body gave way to the wave of sleep that washed over him.

Rukia sat in the darkness of her pillowed haven, knees tucked under her small chin.

She didn't dare peek out of her closet, despite the rustling from Ichigo's blankets having settled.

Her insides were twisting up into a giant knotted mess.

She desperately wanted to help him, wanted to just take his pain away.

_But...I can't..._

She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms tighter around her legs.

This uselessness...this feeling of uselessness...she hated it.

_I really haven't been able to do a thing from him...have I?_

She leaned her head against the wall.

Hopefully in the morning, he would be in a more agreeable manner, and she could urge a little more information out of him. But until then...

She laid her head down on her pillow.

Until then, she would just have to wait.

That was always the hardest thing to do.

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_**Obey...**_

_thump_

_**Let go...**_

_thump_

_**Submit yourself to me!**_

Ichigo's eyes flew open as he gasped in air, like he had been held underwater for hours.

His heart was pounding in his ears, drowning out the sound of his own strangled breathing.

He brought a hand up to his brow, and found it drenched in a feverish sweat.

Quickly, he wiped it away, and tried to calm his spasmodic muscles as they ticked and twitched. His limbs were shaky and stiff and his hands clenched and damp.

Ichigo tried to recall what had woken him up in such a state.

_I think it was the dream..._

He reworded his own thoughts when he decided it was better described as a nightmare.

He had heard a voice...an eerie voice...much like the one he used to hear when he was dealing with his inner hollow.

It sounded like it was right in his ear

...or his mind.

He couldn't remember exactly what it was saying, but just remembered it had drowned everything else out; like it was replacing his normal thought pattern with its own hollow words.

Ichigo suddenly flinched.

Pain shot through his left arm, and up the side of his neck.

He rolled over and squinted in the darkness to focus on his arm. He couldn't make anything out in this black veil covering his room. He just knew that his body was aching.

Ichigo brought his arm closer to his chest and held it with the other one.

It felt like his skin was crawling.

He shivered at the grotesque sensation in his flesh and drew the covers back over his exposed skin.

Dimly lit digits shone from what was obviously his alarm clock in the direction of where his desk should be.

_1:43..._

Ichigo groaned, and buried his face in his pillow. He didn't exactly want to go back to sleep, not that he really could with his arm hurting so much...but it was still hours until sunrise.

_Another long night...and a hollow hasn't even showed yet..._


	3. Wake Up Call

Chapter 3

"What? Are you sure?!" Renji looked at the man in complete shock.

"I'm afraid so, sir. I was given the order to relay this urgent message to all captains and lieutenants. Head Captain Yamamoto Genryuusai confirmed this morning that Captain Konmamaru has disappeared..."

The messenger quickly got back to his feet and turned.

"The Head captain also wished that I ask you to be on the lookout for any information about his whereabouts. That is all..."

In a split second, the man had disappeared via flash step.

Renji was still left in disbelief.

_A captain...missing?!_

To have sent a messenger all the way to the real world to deliver the message, instead of just calling to contact him, that must mean that old man Yamamoto thinks that there's something, or someone, really bad behind Captain Konmamaru's disappearance. He obviously didn't think Konmamaru was just out on a vacation.

Renji jumped onto a rooftop.

Did he think that someone had _kidnapped_ him?

But who on earth could possibly be able to pull that off right in the middle of the Soul Society?! It didn't seem at all possible.

Renji leapt from rooftop to rooftop as the sun slowly started it's ascent into the morning sky, bathing the town in gold.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rukia suddenly jerked awake.

It was always black in the confined space with the door closed, so it was hard to tell exactly what time it was. A small bit of light filtered through the bottom crack of the door, so she was guessing it was already morning.

She pushed her disheveled, black hair from her face and started to stretch out.

Had she really fallen asleep for the whole night? That was a little out of her normal routine.

She went about unfolding the dress at the foot of her mattress and discarding the pajamas she had just been snuggled into a moment ago.

Pushing her arms through the short sleeves, she pulled the dress over her head, and adjusted it around her figure.

She combed her fingers through her unkempt hair and placed her hand on the door, ready to slide it open, but quickly stopped dead.

_What if he was still mad?_

Rukia started to feel tense. She was afraid to open the door and face him.

She shook herself a little.

Why should she care if he was mad? She was being ridiculous. The kid was always mad.

_Get yourself together!_

She tried to fall back on all her years ofliving in the no-nonsense Kuchiki household. Her attitude had softened far too much since she had been staying in the world of the living...with _him_.

Rukia frowned.

It was all his fault that her proud air was slipping.

Her determination became rock solid. She wouldn't show any sympathy to that sulky little brat today. He'd get over himself eventually.

She slid the door open with a dignified boldness.

Rukia's eyes fell upon Ichigo, and almost instantly, that rock solid ambition shattered.

He was still completely immersed in his covers, but she could see his body shaking violently beneath them with sick twitches and convulsions.

Rukia opened her mouth to call him softly, but no words escaped her dry throat.

Finally she forced herself down to the floor, and managed a single word.

"Ichigo?"

No response, only more twitching.

She placed a hand softly on what she could make out to be his shoulder under the mass of soft material.

"Ichigo?" She tried again.

When he still didn't respond, Rukia gently took the covers in her hand and drew them away from his rigid body.

Rukia almost screamed.

Ichigo was drawn up into a tight ball, his eyes wide open and blank. His mouth was also stretched open in a silent scream, a thin trail of saliva traveling from the corner of his lips down his cheek. He didn't look up to her, he just continued to shudder and jerk, his cloudy eyes starting off into nothing.

Rukia took a step back, covering her mouth with her hands.

_How...what...he...but..._

Her thoughts were so fast and muddled, they weren't even making sense.

She tried to hold her trembling hands still.

_Calm down!_

She couldn't help him if she couldn't think.

But still...what could she do?

"Rukia!"

She jumped when she heard someone call her name. She looked up when she recognized the tone.

Renji was again crouched in the window looking at her with a very grim expression.

"I've got bad news."

Rukia completely ignored his declaration, and thrust her finger at Ichigo, pointing at him insistently.

"Renji, please!"

He furrowed his brow, not really getting what she was trying to say at first...until he looked down.

"Holy-!" Renji almost fell back out the window; he was so startled by Ichigo's appearance. It looked like he was having a seizure.

Renji suddenly got that Rukia wanted his help.

The red head jumped down onto the bed, not really knowing what to do, but acting on the first thing that came to mind.

He grabbed Ichigo by the shoulders and lifted him up a bit, shaking him.

"Ichigo! Ichigo, snap out of it!"

His head rolled back and forth as Renji shook him, his unblinking eyes still showing no sign of consciousness.

"Dammit Ichigo!" Renji laid his hand hard across Ichigo's cheek, causing his head to jerk to one side.

Suddenly, as if a switch had turned on Ichigo's brain, he blinked, his auburn eyes slowly coming back to life. The twitching stopped and he started to cough and pant, his limbs falling away from they're rigor mortis like stance.

He looked up at what appeared to be Renji hovering over him and apparently clutching his shoulders.

"What? R-Renji? What...what just happened." He mumbled. He glanced over to Rukia, who had a somewhat horrified expression on her face.

Renji still held his shoulders firmly, keeping Ichigo in reality.

"We wanted to know the same thing..."

Ichigo blinked up at him.

"What?"

Rukia stepped forward, still a little shaken up.

"Well Ichigo, when I woke up this morning...I looked to see if you were awake yet, and you were just shaking. I couldn't get you to answer me...you just kept shaking and staring off into nothing...so..." She trailed off.

"I thought you were in pain or something...like a seizure..."

Ichigo pulled his wrist across his forehead, wiping it dry.

"Oh..."

_**WHAP!**_

Rukia sprung forward and whapped Ichigo right on the back of the head with her fist.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'OH'?!?! Do you realize how bad you scared me and all you're going to say is 'oh'?!"

Ichigo grabbed the back of his head.

"OW! THAT HURT! I HAVE A HEADACHE IDIOT!"

"I'LL GIVE YOU A BIGGER HEADACHE IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP!" Rukia raised her fist again threateningly.

Renji waved a hand at Rukia for her to calm down. Ichigo just glared down at his blanket, mumbling inaudible insults at it.

"Tch, no consideration for other people's feelings..." Rukia carried on quietly.

Renji coughed, trying to get them both back to the severity of Ichigo's condition.

"In all seriousness, it was still freakin' strange to come across you like that Ichigo. Ya got any idea what happened at all?"

Ichigo glanced up at the shinigami, still squatting at the end of his bed. He leaned his forehead on his palm, trying to recollect on what had happened during the course of last night and this morning.

"I don't really remember anything happening...I just remember going to sleep...and"

_That voice_.

He suddenly remembered hearing it in the middle of the night...but he had really heard it again after that...longer this time.

_What had it been saying?_

Abarai noticed he was mulling something over.

"And...?"

Ichigo looked back up at him.

"I don't remember anything else..." he stated flatly.

_They'll defiantly send me to the loony bin if I tell them I'm hearing voices. Who knows what kind of treatment they have in the Soul Society...it's probably ten times worse than any solitary confinement here._

Rukia put a hand on her hip, angling it to the side.

"At any rate, we should probably bring you to Urahara's. He might know what we can do with you. It's probably safer than having you treated in a real world hospital now."

Ichigo presented a nervous grin.

"That old man's place safe? I really don't think you know him that well then."

Renji nodded solemnly, thinking back to his time spent there.

"Agreed..."

"Oh, get over it you babies." Rukia sniffed.

"But still..." Ichigo pulled his legs out from underneath the covers, and draped them over the side of his bed. "We'll have to make an excuse to my dad for why I'll be gone. Any ideas?"

She glanced at him, raising her eyebrows.

"Does your dad even care that you disappear? You do it so often I don't think he even notices anymore."

He wrinkled his forehead, casting an ominous look at her.

"She has a point." Renji added.

"Yah, I got it." Ichigo responded sharply.

"Well, if you understand it so well, then let's get going now. There's no point in sticking around here any longer."

She jumped up onto the bed, and positioned herself to go out from the window.

"Get dressed and meet Renji and I outside in a minute, and don't dilly dally."

With that, she and Renji disappeared outside, leaving Ichigo in his _finally_ silent room.

He shuffled across the floor boards to his dresser, still achy and fatigued.

"Aye aye, captain..." he droned sarcastically, rolling his eyes, and drawing a pair of tan pants out of his dresser.


	4. You're NOT Okay

(A.N.: Sorry I have been really slow on the updates. I've just been so hella busy lately! I had two jobs this summer and theatre camp. NO NORMAL 16 YEAR OLD WORKS TWO JOBS DURING THE SUMMER! IT'S UNATURAL!!! AHEM Anyway, I will be trying harder to get my chapters in sooner. Thanks for all the great reviews guys! Oh, and sorry if this chapter sucks. Ichi)

Ch.4

"No Ururu! That's not how you do it, you dummy!"

The small, big-eyed, pig-tailed girl stopped what she was doing immediately, and brought her head back, like a turtle retreating into it shell.

Jinta threw a box of colored candy at her head, which she dodged easily.

"Now try organizing it again!" The red headed boy leaned against one of the shelves in the dusty store.

Ururu clutched one of the small boxes in her hands, and looked at him with the expression of an abused puppy.

"But, Jinta, Tessai said this was your job..." She moved her head to the side as another box of sweets sailed by her ear.

"Who cares what he said! I'm telling you to do it!" He held up more assorted goods as a threat.

"But-"

Jinta brought his arm back, ready to hurl some mint flavored chocolates. "NO BUTS!"

Just as he was about to let the candy go, an iron hand wrapped around his wrist, giving enough pressure to make him drop the goods to the floor.

"Huh? What ar-!" Jinta stopped in mid sentence, a look of dread falling upon his face.

Mr.Tessai towered behind him, casting a dark shadow over the boy. The tall, apron-donning man lifted the red haired kid by his wrist, and stared at him through gleaming eyeglasses.

"Mr.Kisuke wouldn't like you throwing merchandise around his store." Tessai said in a deep, dangerous voice.

"I-I was just helping her organize!! I swear!" Jinta reasoned frantically, kicking his legs in a futile attempt to get down.

"This place is just as rowdy as ever..." Rukia strolled in through the front doorway, casually looking about the room. She noted that nothing had changed since the last time she came...or the first time as a matter of fact.

"Ah, Miss Kuchiki. We weren't expecting you." Mr. Tessai dropped Jinta back down to his feet. The boy quickly scuttled away to the corner of the store and tried to look like he was dusting to avoid another scolding.

"It's an urgent matter." Renji said, appearing in the doorway, now suited with his gigai.

"Is Kisuke in?" Rukia inquired, looking toward the backroom door.

"Yes, I'll go and get him for you." Mr.Tessai turned to get the manager, but the scruffy blonde man was already shuffling out of the back room, a large box under his arm.

"Ah Miss Kuchiki, Abarai...what brings you to my humble shop?" Urahara set the box down on the floor, and looked at them with a half-awake smile.

"It's Ichigo." Rukia explained. "We've got a small problem with him."

Urahara reached into his sleeve quickly, before drawing his hand back out, holding a fan.

"Don't tell me its teenage hormones acting up. I thought the boy should have been past that by now" Urahara flicked the fan in front of his mouth, covering the goofy grin plastered on his unshaven face.

"Cram it!" Ichigo snapped, dragging himself into the familiar shop, his hands rammed deep into his pockets and the usual perma-frown creasing his face.

"Speak of the devil! Mr.Kurosaki! Pleasure to have you join us!" The shop keep snapped his fan shut.

"I hear you're causing problems."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Ichigo stopped next to Rukia and looked down at her. "Can we please just get this over with...this isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my vacation."

She looked at him sourly. "We're doing this because there's something wrong with you, idiot. Would you rather spend your vacation having seizures?"

Ichigo simply ignored the question and turned his attention to the wall, giving it an irritated look.

"So, it's his health that's troublesome, eh?" Urahara asked, looking over his fan at Ichigo. "Can't fight hollows if your sick, Ichigo. Why didn't you just have your father take a look at you...he is a doctor after all."

Rukia cut in. "Because we believe this may be beyond human care."

Ichigo mumbled "_We_...that's what _you_ believe-' just before receiving a sharp elbow in the ribs.

Rukia continued. "That's why we came to you."

Mr.Tessai's face brightened somewhat.

"Oh, I've got some wonderful medicines for any ailment! Is your stomach bothering you, or perhaps a headache?" He started to rummage through an assortment of outdated cold remedies.

Ichigo smiled nervously. "No, really it's fine..."

Rukia cut in once more. "No offence, but I doubt any regular cold medicines will be much help."

Urahara snapped his fan shut. "Well, then. We'll have no choice but to run some tests."

"Tests?" Ichigo lifted his eyebrows.

"Yes, just some physical examination. We'll need to check your vitals, spiritual energy, and so on." Urahara put his fan away and bent down to open the box he had set down when he walked in.

Ichigo crossed his arms, looking somewhat skeptical of this whole examination. "Do we really have to do that? I mean...I probably just had an allergic reaction to something and went into shock..."

"Well, if that's the case, then this examination can tell us that too..." Urahara continued to dig around in the box.

"But, do you even have the right equipment for that kind of thing?"

Urahara stopped and looked up at Ichigo, raising his eyebrows this time.

"You forget that I used to be the Head of the Bureau of Technology, already? Honestly, I'm better equipped then any human hospital in all of Japan. A-hah!"

Urahara drew out a syringe and tapped the side.

"We'll first have to take a blood sample."

Ichigo shook his head. "No way!"

Even though he had grown up in a hospital, he had never liked needles one bit.

"Oh, don't be a baby." Renji snickered at Ichigo.

Urahara also pulled out a bottle of a clearish purple liquid. "Oh, and we'll need to knock you out for just a few of the tests."

"That's it. I'm gone." Ichigo started to head for the door. Rukia yelled after him.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

Ichigo just kept walking. "This is stupid. I don't need any tests done-AUGH!" Suddenly Renji had jumped on him, trying to pull him back.

"Just be a good boy, and get it over with!" Renji struggled to keep a hold of him once he started to fight back.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!"

"STOP STRUGGLING!"

"GET OFF, DAMMIT!"

"RUKIA, HELP ME PIN THIS IDIOT DOWN!"

Renji could barely hold him down at all. They were pretty evenly matched in physical strength.

Rukia was just about to help, but Tessai beat her too it. He simply grabbed Ichigo's hands, twisted them behind his back, and sat down on him.

"OW OW OW!"

There was no contest...Tessai was holding him with one hand. Urahara suddenly appeared in front of him.

"You need to calm down, Ichigo. We're doing this for your own good. Now stick out your tongue."

"What?! I'm not sti-UEHH!" Urahara grabbed his tongue before he could even finish.

"LE GO OF MY TONGNN!" Ichigo was disgusted with the very fact that Urahara was touching his tongue with his bare hands. He didn't know where that thing had been.

He brandished the bottle of purple liquid, and put one drop on Ichigo's tongue before releasing it. He also motioned for Tessai to let him go.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?! VITAMINS?!" Ichigo sprung to his feet, spitting and trying to get that awful taste out of his mouth.

"You should really sit down. It's not good to stand..."

He started to storm out once more. "My ass, I'll sit down! I'm getting the hell o-"

It hit him like a brick wall.

Ichigo started to teeter and lost his balance. Rukia threw her shoulder beneath him just as he fell forward. She grunted a little as he completely collapsed on her shoulder.

He was out cold.

"This moron is heavy..." She shifted underneath his weight.

Suddenly, his hair brushed her cheek and a chill ran up her spine. His body was pressed down so close to her...heavy and warm.

She started to get that knotted feeling in her stomach again.

Tessai took him from her, slinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Renji glanced over at Rukia, and noticed the slightly shaken expression on her face.

"Hey, you alright?" He pointed his thumb at Ichigo's limp body tossed over the large employees shoulder. "If you're worried about Ichigo, don't be...Urahara may be a little crazy, but he knows his stuff. You know that."

Rukia nodded up and down. "Yah, I know..." Of course, that's not why she was so flustered. She was started to worry about her own health.

_Maybe __**I**__ should have the checkup._

Urahara led them down a long hallway, and into a room that looked like it hadn't been used in ages. Lots of strange equipment lined the walls, and monitors were everywhere.

Ichigo had been laid down on a metal examination table that actually looked a little more like dissection platform. His shirt was removed as well as his pants _((A.N: Silly fan girls...he's still got boxers on))_, and he was hooked up to probably ten different machines; One was taking a sample of his blood, one was gathering information on the output of his spirit energy, one was scanning his organs, an oxygen mask covered his face, and a couple wires were taped to his chest to keep an eye on his heart rate. The rest of the machines...well Rukia didn't have a clue what they were doing.

"His blood test will be done in just a minute. We can check just to see if anything is wrong there first."

Right on cue, a small piece of paper printed out of the machine that had received the sample. Urahara ripped it out and began to scan over it.

"Hmmm...seems normal here..."

Rukia and Renji were sitting in chairs, waiting patiently near the door. They watched diligently as Mr. Tessai went about checking all of the output on the machines.

"_Everything_ seems normal boss...he's perfectly healthy."

Urahara scratched his head. He then faced Rukia.

"What symptoms did he show anyway to get you two worked up enough to drag him here?"

She recalled upon her scare earlier. "Well, when I woke up this morning, I noticed he hadn't gotten out of bed yet, so I went to check on him. He was all drawn up in a ball...and he was trembling. He wouldn't respond to anything I said...it looked like he was in pain. His eyes were open...but I don't think he was conscious of it."

"I had to hit him to get him to snap out of it." Renji interjected.

"He didn't even realize it had happened when he came too."

Urahara rubbed his unshaven chin and knitted his brow. A new expression came over his face. Not a good one...just a new one.

He turned to look at Ichigo lying on the table.

"...It might be..." He murmured to himself.

Rukia and Renji looked at him with questioning expressions.

He went to a plastic case, and pulled another syringe out, uncapping the needle and returning to Ichigo's side with it. Carefully, he poked the needle into the teen's skin, and slowly drew out a new blood sample. He brought it back to his desk and pulled out another bottle of a clear liquid, which he quickly uncapped. Urahara poured the blood into the liquid and waited. After a few seconds, the solution had turned completely blue. He frowned and studied it closer.

"Ah, there it is..."

The two near the door still look confused.

He brought the bottle close to their faces and pointed out something barely noticeable to the human eye. The outer edges of the fluid were a different color then the rest. Instead of that light blue color...it was a slight green.

"What's that?" Renji asked, still focused on the contents.

"It's a trace of spirit energy that doesn't belong to Ichigo. The blue represents his, while the green represents some other source."

Rukia spoke up next. "So, what does that mean for him?"

Urahara replaced the bottle.

"It means Ichigo came in contact with something...and since that spirit energy is coming from inside him...it might still be there..."

"He came in contact with something? Like what?" She looked unnerved.

"Well, it's only a guess...but perhaps something like a poison...has he fought any particularly dangerous hollows lately?"

"No, not at all... I was with him whenever he fought hollows."

Kisuke went about to thinking again. "Then...it could be a parasite."

"What?" Renji looked at him with disbelief. "Are there even such things like that around?"

"Well, didn't Miss Kuchiki fight a Bounto with a parasitic doll before?"

"Yes but-"

Urahara cut him off "Then it proves that something like that can exist. It's very unlikely, but I'm going to stretch the limits of possibility for now."

Rukia butted in once more.

"Well, how would you be able to find out? And if it were a parasite...how could we get it out of him?"

"Well, considering the fact that his condition seems to be on and off, it's most likely not poison." Urahara started to pull some of the IV's and other tubes out of Kurosaki's flesh.

"I actually do have one test that could tell us whether it's a parasite or not."

Rukia noticed while he was talking, he seemed to be taking off all Ichigo's vital supports. She was becoming nervous.

"How does it work?" Renji watched as Mr.Tessai started pressing buttons on the body scanner.

"Hm...well it gets a bit complicated." Urahara began to explain. "You see, parasites depend on their host to carry out their own life functions, so therefore if their host can no longer provide them with that, they are forced to leave the body. So all I would have to do is cut off the parasite from its energy source, that being Ichigo."

Renji smirked a little. "So what are you going to do, kill him?"

"Well...almost."

They both went pale.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine. All I'm going to do is drain all of his spiritual energy, bringing him very near death for a few seconds. This should cause whatever's in there to become agitated and, if we're lucky, exit his body. If not, then it will at least give off enough energy for us to find it."

"And Ichigo..." Rukia wanted to hear the rest about him.

"Will be fine once we restore all of his energy" Urahara finished. He stood next to the table and stuck a large band across Ichigo's chest.

"So then...shall we?"

Rukia started to wring her hands as Urahara started punching in a few buttons on the machine that was now hooked up to Ichigo's chest.

"Here we go." Urahara pulled a large switch.

Ichigo convulsed quickly like he had just been shocked with a defibrillator.

"His energy is reaching minimum now..."

The scanner was still showing nothing of what they wanted, only that Ichigo's vitals were starting to become of concern.

Renji glanced over at the blonde man behind the machine. "Maybe it's not a parasite."

"Or maybe it's just resilient...just wait a bit longer."

The color was starting to drain from the teen's face.

Rukia started to shift in her chair. "I think we should stop. Nothings happening, and if this goes on much longer, he could-"

"Trust me; I'm not going to let him die. It's not like I could kill him even if I wanted to." He cocked a smile a Rukia. "You know first hand the will to live in this guy."

_**SKREEEEEEEEE**_

Everyone's attention flew back to the table to see what had caused the spine tingling noise.

The scanner started to beep wildly as a foreign reiatsu started to pour into the sensors.

The screeching had been caused by his fingernails being raked across the metal table. His muscles began to twitch and tick once again, just like they had early this morning.

Mr.Tessai quickly ran over to pin his arms down when he started to flail wildly. Renji jumped up to help as well, and just barely missed getting a foot smashed right into his mouth.

Ichigo started to growl once he had been pinned.

Rukia quickly appeared next to Urahara. "What's going on?! Shouldn't he still be under the anesthetics?! He should be able to fight back!"

"It's not him fighting back, Miss Kuchiki." He pointed to the monitor. "Look..."

A small thin cord was showing up on the screen. It was wrapped and intertwined with Ichigo veins and organs. The largest part seemed to branching up his neck. Its spiritual energy was clearly spreading through his body, forcibly moving his limbs and taking over the sleeping functions.

"Just what the hell is that thing?!" Rukia looked horrified.

"That's our parasite."

"Grrr...RRRRR GRAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Ichigo surged under Renji and Tessai's strength and let go of an inhuman yell. His eyes opened wide with a dark green replacing his regular chocolaty color.

Renji tried to keep him pinned, as he continued to scream to jerk.

"Boss, he's getting stronger somehow! We can't hold him down much longer!" Mr.Tessai's glasses had slipped down his nose.

"Alright." Urahara flicked the switch back up.

In a matter of a few seconds, the flailing boy started to calm, the green cord fading away from the screen as Ichigo's regular spiritual energy flooded back.

The two men released him as his body slowly climbed back up to stability and the strange reiatsu vanished. He blinked as the green faded away from his eyes as well.

"Eh..." He looked at the ceiling with a utterly confused expression.

"What the...where..." He sat up and was suddenly met with everyone about an inch away from him, with concerned expressions. It also brought him to sudden realization that he was in only his boxers on an elevated metal table.

"WAGH!!!" He nearly fell off the back of the table.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!" He ripped the sensors off and scrambled to cover himself with the clothes Renji had so kindly tossed him.

"Well, he's back." The red head stated flatly, a hint of relief showing through.

"Back? What are you talking about?" Ichigo questioned, pulling his shirt over his head.

"Well, we've managed to figure out what's wrong with you." Urahara crossed his arms.

"Good, then did you fix it?" Ichigo fiddled with the belt around his waist.

"Well, not yet."

Ichigo looked up. "Whaddya mean 'Not yet.' Aren't you supposed to be an expert or something?"

"Ichigo, do even remembered what just happened a minute ago?" Rukia cut in.

"You mean when you guys were hovering over me like a flock of vultures just now?" He looked very displeased.

"Before that." Rukia was starting to become irritated with his lax attitude about it.

"Well, no. You creeps knocked me out, remember?" He put a fist on his hip.

Suddenly, he started to feel lightheaded, and he swayed. He grabbed the edge of the table so he wouldn't fall over.

"Whoa, there. Don't push yourself. Your body has just gone through a lot of stress right now." Urahara offered to give him a hand, but he stubbornly declined. Urahara opened the door to the hallway.

"Well, then, why don't you come lay down in the back room and rest a bit. We can tell you what's going on then."

He sighed. "Fine." He carefully made his way to the door, everyone else tailing behind.

Urahara grabbed the data sheets, before he shut the door behind them, leading everyone down the hallway and to the back room, to catch Ichigo up on the horrifying bind his existence was in. The only thing that bothered Urahara the most now was...how was he possibly going to fix this one...


	5. It Comes Crashing Down

((A.N.: Once again, it's been awhile since my last update, but it's finally here. It's not very long, but it's quite gruesome to warn you. It's only going to get more gruesome from here. YAY for GRATUITOUS VIOLENCE!))

Ch.5

He was asleep again.

Ichigo had struggled to keep himself conscious, while Urahara had explained everything to him. His body was so worn from the massive change in his spiritual energy, not to mention the little outburst his body had while the parasite had taken control.

Rukia still remembered the look he had on his face when he realized everything _**wasn't**_ just the results of something equal to the common cold.

His body was being controlled.

Ichigo's face had taken on an expression of alarm, and what Rukia could plainly see as fear, though he would never admit that to be in his range of emotion anymore.

Now he was lying on a mat, in the middle of the floor in the backroom, where they had congregated many times before.

Renji had been sent out again by orders from the Soul Society to keep up his search for the fugitive.

Urahara had Ichigo get out of his body before he fell asleep, or more accurately, passed out. He wanted to see if the parasite just had control over his body, but to his disappointment, this was worst case scenario.

The parasite was fused with his soul as well.

Kisuke still insisted that he would look after Ichigo's body for now, and see if he could find any other information regarding how to rid him of this reiatsu leech.

Orihime, Chad and Uyru had been informed of the situation, and they had all come to the shop. Orihime offered to heal Ichigo, but Kisuke told her it would be no use. The parasites reiastu was strong and steady, and mixed with Ichigo's own. She wouldn't be able to use her technique.

To Urahara, though, this brought up another question. The spirit energy he measured from the parasite didn't seem to work out.

It was far too strong to be coming from that little thread itself. He was beginning to think it was getting its energy transmitted from somewhere.

True, it was getting stronger from consuming Ichigo's endless spirit energy, but that wasn't the only thing powering it...he was positive.

He told everyone he had to leave the shop for a little while to get supplies to continue his research. He told Rukia to stay and watch Ichigo to make sure he didn't try to do any strenuous activity while he was supposed to be resting.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rukia sat alone with Ichigo now.

Chad, Uyru, and Orihime had all been told to go home, that they would all be updated on Ichigo's condition as soon as he showed change.

Ichigo was still asleep on his mat, donning his shihaksho, Zangetsu wrapped up beside him.

She watched over him again, like she had been doing every night since she had come back to the real world.

She remembered back to the previous night, how Ichigo had been so moody and hostile. Well, she understood the reason now. It was a pretty damn good excuse to be agitated. It must be so painful, to drain him like this...

_Why didn't he tell me he was in pain?_

Rukia put a hand on her forehead.

If he would just show his weaknesses to his friends every once in a while, maybe this could have been prevented.

She still wasn't past that wall, huh?

He wouldn't let _anyone_ in...

She sighed loudly and thumped her head against the wall behind her. Closing her eyes, she was absorbed completely in her thoughts for a minute.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

"EEEPP!" Rukia nearly jumped clear out of her own skin when her pager went off

"Damn, what could it be now?" She flipped the top open and realized that it was actually a phone call, not a hollow.

"Yes?" She answered.

Renji was quick to reply.

"Rukia! You should come quick! I've picked up a strange reiatsu. It's not strong, but it's certainly not a human or hollow. I think it might be our guy... I'm at-"

"Don't bother; I'll just follow your spirit energy." She quickly snapped her pager shut, snatched up Sode no Shirayuki and flung the sliding door open, running out of the shop.

Jinta and Ururu watched Rukia streak by and they craned their heads to watch her leave.

"Geez, must be something important to make her run like that." Jinta said, leaning against a shelf.

Rukia quickly popped her gikongon into her mouth to separate from her gigai. She shouted over her shoulder for it to go back and wait with Ichigo for her to return.

"Make sure he doesn't move!"

It nodded its head and quickly changed directions.

The last thing they needed was a drained Ichigo showing up on the scene when they were dealing with a fugitive who apparently thought he could take on captains.

"Kuchiki!" Rukia looked up to see Captain Hitsugaya just barely flash step next to her.

"We're headed to the same place I take it." The white haired boy looked deathly serious. Rukia knew then that it had to be the guy they were looking for. Soul Society obviously caught wind of reiastu too, and sent the captain of squad 10.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ichigo's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light shining in his face. There was a strange shaped shadow in front of his face though.

He tried harder to focus until it became clear. It was Rukia's face.

"Rukia, what are you..." Suddenly her face cracked into a huge smile.

"GOOD MORNING!!!!!" She screeched in an unnaturally high feminine voice.

Ichigo grimaced. This was obviously Rukia's gikongon...nothing else could be that cheery.

But right now, he didn't really care that much. He had just remembered why he had woken up in the first place.

_He had felt an itching...an attraction..._

He couldn't really tell why, but he just felt like he was being _called_ somewhere.

Ichigo sat up on his mat, still feeling rather wiped out.

"You look weally weally sick!" The faux Rukia piped.

"Gee, thanks..." Ichigo groaned, getting to his feet with a little difficulty. The little Rukia gigai suddenly latched to his arm.

"Where are you goin'?! Wukia said you weren't supposed to go! You can't go fight at all!"

Ichigo tried to shake her off.

"Fight? Why would I-" That's when he felt Rukia, Toushiro, and Renji's flared reiatsu's, along with another unfamiliar one. He must have been too tired and distracted to notice when he woke up.

"Let go!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Renji, Rukia and Captain Hitsugaya all stared him down.

"My my, the Soul Reapers seem particularly agitated today." A young looking man with long curly brown hair, green eyes, and under some decorative armor and a cape, a shihaksho, smiled at them calmly.

"A shinigami...I don't recognize him..." Renji muttered next to Rukia.

"State your name and division!" Hitsugaya demanded of the snickering shinigami.

"Pushy, pushy..." The man eluded the question.

"That was an order from a higher ranking officer! Now what's your name and division, or I will be forced to detain you!" Toushiro wrapped his hand around the hilt of his zanpakutoh.

"I'll have to decline you offer, I'm afraid. I have more important matters to attend to at the moment." He turned to leave.

Hitsugaya drew his sword and quickly rushed the man to keep him from disappearing. Suddenly his sword was met by another. All three of the shinigami reacted in shock.

"C-Captain Komamura?!"

The fox-headed captain suddenly appeared in front of the man, blocking the young boy's blade with his own.

Renji stared with disbelief. "He was in the missing persons report!"

"What are you doing, Captain?! This man is a suspect! Are you-"

However, when he looked up into the large captain's eyes, they were shining green.

"What the..." Komamura raised his sword again to strike. Hitsugaya quickly flash stepped out of the way. He knew something certainly wasn't right here. Sajin was not acting on his own.

"Is this your doing?!" Toushiro snapped at the armored shinigami. He simply laughed again.

"Whatever could you be blathering about. The Captain here has simply joined my cause..."

"Your cause? And what might that be?"

The man's green eyes flickered. "Would you like a first hand experience?" The man put his hand on his zanpakutoh. His thin lips curled up into a wicked smile.

"I suppose it would help to have a few more supporters." He quickly unsheathed it, little needles flying at the three shinigami. Hitsugaya and Rukia managed to dodge all the small projectiles. Unfortunately, Renji was stuck with one in the leg.

"Shit..." Renji quickly pulled out his own sword and grit his teeth. He dug the tip of it into his leg, just below the needle, and pried it out of his skin quickly. Blood started to trickle out of the small self-inflicted wound.

"What the hell kinda tricks are you tryin' to pull?!" Renji snapped.

"Oh, so you got it out, eh? That's too bad..." However, the man seemed unfazed.

"Damn you..." Renji got into a fighting stance.

"Roar, Zabimaru!" He quickly released his zanpakutoh. He raised his spined blade in front of his face.

"So you want to get serious? This won't do." But suddenly his face cracked into a malicious grin.

"I though you had more important things to take care of...you don't much care for your comrades do you? Typical shinigami." He chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" Renji snapped.

"I'm just surprised you abandoned your friend so easily...I would have thought you'd kept a better eye on him." Renji shot a confused glance at Rukia. What was this guy talking about?

"After all, he is precious to your little Soul Society, isn't he? Now what's his name...Kuro-something?"

Rukia stiffened. "Ichigo!"

She suddenly turned and started to fly back towards the Urahara shop as fast as she could.

He watched Rukia go in amusement and turned back to Renji "Ah, it seems I have rung a painful bell, considering you and that girl's reaction." The man eyed Renji's stricken expression.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rukia's heart was pounding against her ribs. She was only a couple hundred feet away from the shop. Her mind was racing as fast as she was. She didn't know what would await her when she got back. She prayed as hard as she could to just find him sleeping in the same spot she left him.

She ran though the door and was met with her gikongon outside the backroom door, sobbing. It ran and grabbed her arm.

"Wukia, I told him not move! He wouldn't listen and I bwoke him on accident! It was an accident, Wukia!" The artificial soul sobbed like a small child.

Rukia ignored its cries and pushed open the back door.

Her blood ran cold.

Her worse fears had come true.

"Ichigo!"

He was writhing on the floor, immense pain screaming through every fiber of his body. He could feel that damn parasite again. It felt like it was ripping him up on the inside.

"AUGGGGGHHHH!" He cried out.

It wasn't just his body now that screamed.

It was probing his mind, looking through his memories, trying to take control.

Ichigo clawed at his skin.

The feeling was unbearable, he felt as if he was falling apart at the very seems. The more he resisted, the more his body writhed in pain. The power over him was overwhelming and he was quickly losing control.

Rukia ran to his side.

"Ichigo! Ichigo!!" She reached out.

Ichigo suddenly grabbed her wrist, his grip nearly crushing. He looked up at her, his teeth gritted, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth from him biting through his tongue.

"Get...out...Ruk...ia" He managed to force out, but the parasite noticed this retaliation and sent a surge of pain through his nerves.

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ichigo screamed again. His body was too tired to resist, he was quickly crumbling. He released Rukia as his body started to slow down, his last bit of sanity slipping through the cracks of his own consciousness as his mind slowly went blank.

TO BE CONTINUED!

((BWAHAHAHAHAHA!))


	6. Conflictions

Ch.6

(I have no idea where I got this guy's last name, or if it means anything, just go with it...XD)

"Tetsu Yabashi...though, it's probably the last time you'll hear this name, you'll be dying soon anyway." The man finally answered the squad ten captain's question.

Renji and Hitsugaya were panting. They were having trouble dodging both Captain Komamura's attacks and the rain of little needles from the rogue shinigami's zanpakutoh.

"Getting all worn out already? That's a shame..." Tetsu's lips tugged up into a slanted smirk.

"Shut your mouth!" Renji snapped, throwing Zabimaru up to guard his face just as Komamura's zanpakutoh sailed down at him.

Hitsugaya was frustrated by the situation. He thought maybe if he could hurt the person in control of the captain, the control would weaken...the only problem was he couldn't get close enough to the man to land a hit on him. Between Komamura's ferocious attacks and the waves of needles, there were no openings. Toushiro didn't want to have to use his bankai either, for fear it might accidentally kill Sajin.

"Dammit..." he muttered, gripping the hilt to his sword tighter.

Renji was starting to get nervous as well. Where was Rukia? He knew that she went to check on Ichigo, but what was taking so long?

He began to wonder if Ichigo was okay too. If Rukia wasn't back by now, that could mean something either happened to Ichigo...or Rukia.

Renji was suddenly caught off guard by another swing from Sajin. The blade slid across Renji's cheek, leaving a clean red line on his face. Blood quickly sprung from the wound and began to drip down his chin.

"Damn." He quickly wiped away some of the blood.

"What's wrong, your concentration is terrible...ever since your friend went off." Tetsu flicked some of his long, curly brown hair over his shoulder.

"Awww, are you worried about her? How unprofessional."

"I told you to shut your mouth!!" Renji seethed.

Tetsu sighed.

"You are starting to bore me with your big talk, shinigami...perhaps it's high time I shut you up." He lazily reached for his zanpakutoh, sliding it out of its hilt.

Renji's eyes flicked over to his blade, tensing as Tetsu drew his sword...the design on its suba looked just like claws.

He brought the blade right up to his face, holding it at a slight angle.

"Squirm, Kuro Goburin!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ichigo? Ichigo!!" Rukia shook his shoulder. He had stopped writhing, and now he was just deathly still, his eyes closed.

"Ichigo! Answer me!" She was getting frantic.

Suddenly, she saw a muscle tick in his neck.

His eyes opened.

Rukia jumped when they did. Not because it had been so sudden, but because of what his eyes looked like. They were no longer that warm chocolate color she was used to...no...

They were bright green.

"I-Ichigo?" Rukia called weakly.

He brought his hands up jerkily, and pushed himself off the ground, his green eyes seemingly staring into nothing. His expression was blank as he brought himself to his feet.

"Ichigo?" Rukia called again. She felt a sudden rush of weakness in her legs. She couldn't move...

He still made no move to look at her, but turned his head towards the open door. Suddenly, his body vanished.

Rukia blinked and looked shocked, as if she had never seen flash step before.

She jolted to her feet, forgetting her earlier weariness as new adrenaline coursed in her veins. She sprinted out of the shop, her gikongon still sobbing as she passed. She knew exactly where he was headed.

_How could this have happened...he was...how could I..._

"No." Rukia said solidly.

Her ears were buzzing.

She tried to stay professional, to keep her mind focused on the task instead of Ichigo's situation. She wasn't sure she would be able to move again if she actually thought about it.

_He is...he's..._

She shook her head. There wasn't a damn thing she could do for him if she couldn't think.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Abarai and Hitsugaya both blinked. They heard Tetsu call out his zanpakutoh, it had shined green briefly, but overall nothing had really happened.

Renji smirked.

"Heh, I think your sword's broken, maybe you should go have it checked somewhere..."

Yabashi grinned. He waved for Komamura to stand still.

"Oh yeah, how about you test it then?" he challenged.

Renji saw this as a chance to finally get a hit in.

"Fine, your funeral!" Renji rushed at him, raising Zabimaru above his head. Once the man was directly under his sword he swung down hard. Tetsu wasn't making a move to dodge though, he was just smiling away.

There was a clash of blades.

Renji's air of confidence as well as his grin quickly fell as he stared horrified into a pair of unnaturally green eyes.

"Ichigo...what-what are you doing!?"

The orange headed shinigami was between Renji and Tetsu, Zangetsu fending off Zabimaru.

Tetsu began to cackle loudly at Renji's quick change in attitude.

"You seem shocked...but you did hear me release me zanpakutoh, did you not?"

Toshiro saw Ichigo defending Tetsu and immediately knew what was happening.

"What have you done?" He shot an icy glare at him.

"He is merely another supporter to my cause-"

"BULLSHIT!" Renji yelled from behind Ichigo's blade. "You're controlling him!"

"Ah, you're more perceptive than I thought." Tetsu said sarcastically. He flicked his hand.

Ichigo suddenly threw more weight into his sword, pushing Renji back a couple feet.

Hitsugaya stared Tetsu down. "What did you do to that boy?"

"Well, aren't you just the nosy one?" He straightened up. "I simply planted a part of my zanpakutoh in his body. It easily squirmed into that tiny brain of his and now all of my commands are transmitted directly to his brain. In short, I have complete control of his nervous system, and even all of his memories. Whatever was stored in that head of his now belongs to me."

Rukia quickly reappeared on the scene.

"Ah, so you've returned, the signal mustn't have been sent soon enough. I did order him to kill you before he arrived."

Hitsugaya quickly pulled out his phone, punching in some numbers.

"Matsumoto! No! No time! I have an urgent message for Head Capt-!" Toshiro's sentence was cut short when Sajin's Tengen cut right through the little electric device in the boy's hand.

"Now, now! Where are your manners, boy?" Tetsu put a hand on his hip. "I think you're off to a time out for now..."

Captain Komamura suddenly grabbed Hitsugaya by the back of his captain's cloak, and disappeared along with him.

Rukia felt their reiatsu's reappear faintly, far away from them.

Tetsu looked back at Rukia and Renji. Renji was still in a fighting stance, but Rukia however, had yet to even draw her zanpakutoh.

"I believe you two know what your choices are...so what will it be?" He was beginning to loose his patience. If he was really going to have his revenge on the shinigami, he didn't want to waste his time with weaklings.

"Join my side, or die by your own friend's hand."

Ichigo's hands tightened around his sword as he straightened up robotically, his harsh green eyes still blank of expression.

"Renji...what are we-" Rukia was cut off quickly.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." He whispered to her.

Tetsu noticed this little meeting and cocked his head in amusement, letting them plan their next move. Anything but cooperation would be in vain anyway.

"If we can hit the guy controlling Ichigo, we can probably get him to snap out of it." Renji leaned in closer. "I need you to go after this freak. I'll hold Ichigo off long enough for you to get a good shot in."

"Are you quite finished, shinigami? You're wasting my time and I'm a very busy man." Yabashi put a hand on his neck and stretched to emphasize his increasing boredom.

"Alright." Rukia nodded to Renji and started to gather her spirit energy.

"Oh? So you'll fight then?" Tetsu raised an eyebrow. "So be it..."

Renji sprung forward, headed straight at Ichigo with his sword raised. He wasn't going to hurt him, he was just going to pin him long enough to give Rukia a chance to attack.

He slammed his sword down against Ichigo's, who met it with equal force.

"Bakudo number one! Sai!" Renji focused the kidoh on Ichigo's arms. It probably wouldn't hold for very long, but then again...they didn't need very long.

Ichigo's arms automatically stiffened under the paralysis.

Rukia was already in position by the time Renji had pinned Ichigo.

"Bakudo thirty-three! Pale fire crash!!!" She shot from behind Tetsu and aimed right for the middle of his back.

The shot sailed straight at her target, dead on.

Right before the flaming mass hit Tetsu, Ichigo had just disappeared from in front of Renji. He reappeared right in front of the shot.

"Shit!" Renji cursed.

The kidoh hit Zangetsu squarely in the middle, effectively stopped by the giant blade. Ichigo's expression still did not change as his fingers seared in the intense heat. Instead he quickly disappeared again, reappearing right in front of Rukia.

She barely had time to react before his sword was already swinging down at her. Her arms flew up in defense and she quickly moved out from under his deadly blow...well mostly.

The metal tore through her shihaksho and sliced the flesh in her left shoulder. She gasped in pain as she felt her blood rushing to the wound.

"Rukia!" Renji called, rushing to her side.

"Ah-ah!" Tetsu whipped his right hand, sending more needles at the red-head. "Don't interfere, now." Renji suddenly stopped, having been stuck with two needles. He frantically ripped them out, feeling them start to dig deeper already.

Tetsu turned back to Ichigo and Rukia, the small shinigami holding her dripping shoulder. He grinned.

"Kill her."

Ichigo's neck ticked again as his brain received the command. His green eyes flickered down to meet her deep blue ones, fear rising up in them.

She couldn't hit him back.

He raised his zanpakutoh again, bringing it down fast to strike her again.

"NO!" Renji, tried to quickly gather himself to save her. There wasn't enough time!

Rukia screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the hit.

...silence.

Her eyes opened slightly.

She could see Ichigo's blade, not an inch from her face. But it wasn't moving...or was it?

Yes, it was moving...but not down to strike her.

_It's shaking..._

Rukia opened her eyes fully, not understanding why Ichigo's sword has ceased to cut her down. Her eyes moved to the boy gripping the sword.

She realized it wasn't the sword that was shaking...It was _Ichigo._

His arms were shaking violently, like he was fighting with his own limbs on this one.

His green eyes were open wide, the color faltering briefly to show catches of brown.

His entire body began to shake and his eyes shut tight.

"Wh-what's going on?" Renji stared at the trembling teen.

"...Ru...Ruk...ia..." He forced through his barred teeth. His body started twitching fitfully again.

She started back at him in horror. She was starting to tremble herself.

"...Ru..." He stammered out again.

"What is this?" Tetsu frowned. "You'll behave, boy!" Tetsu brought his left hand up. He laid his palm out flat, then crushed his fingers into a tight fist.

Ichigo screamed as searing pain ripped through every single one of his nerves. He crumpled under the pain, falling to his knees and clutching his head. He felt like he was being ripped apart.

Blood started to trickled from his mouth again.

He _**was**_being ripped apart.

His resistance weakened a bit under the pain, just enough for the parasite to take control again. His conciousness was blanketed once more, but not before one last thought crossed his tortured mind.

"_Rukia...I'm sorry..."_

Ichigo's eyes opened, once more a gleaming green. His jerky muscles began to function robotically again as he rose to his feet, taking hold of his sword.

Blood dripped from his closed lips.

"There, now as long as you cooperate, I won't have to do anymore damage to your organs, boy." Tetsu snorted.

Rukia was still trembling.

_I can't do this...I can't kill him..._

She shook her head, her eyes beginning to burn.

_It's just...it's just like...like Kaien..._

She felt her throat closing up as the painful memories surfaced.

Yabashi was growing even more impatient. He wasn't the slightest bit worried about their strength; they were weak, but annoying none the less. He decided to pull out more of his power.

"Rukia...are you going to kill me?" Ichigo said flatly, his eyes still shining green.

Tetsu smirked as the small shinigami seemed to crumple by his puppets words. He had complete control of his mind, complete control of his memories, complete control of his pawns in this wicked game.

Rukia's heart froze when Ichigo spoke.

This was like a sick, twisted repeat of the most painful night of her life...playing before her very eyes.

He legs felt weak beneath her. She was positive they would give out any second now. She swayed a bit as Ichigo took a step toward her.

"Stop!!" Renji roared, rushing the grinning man, Zabimaru burning with his flared reiatsu.

Once again, he flicked his left wrist, and Ichigo was there to defend him in a second.

"You're really never going to learn, are you? Are you that thick-headed?" Tetsu sighed. He ran his fingers through his thick, curly locks.

"Oh well, I will save you from your own idiocy in a minute." He lifted his left hand and spread his fingers.

Each digit began to glow slightly.

"I'll find out just how powerful your friend can get."

D TO BE CONTINUED

((BTW once this story is done, I'll be making another one that explains what's going on in Ichigo's inner world while this is happening, just in case you folks were interested. D))


End file.
